New canopy packing advice

[mikewza 0]

Until now i have been renting rigs and as such have not had a hard time packing. I have just recently bought a beautiful sabre 2 135 javelin oddysey combination.
problem is that i just cant get the f***ing thing into the bag. packing is an absolute nightmare and leaves me frustrated and wanting a beer.
is there any advice for a guy like me who is seeing stars everytime he has to pack???

fly high... fly long.

[phoenixlpr 0]

Search for wolmari pack and reverse-S fold. Or just see how easy it can be.

[mikewza 0]

thanks,will try it and let you know...

fly high... fly long.

[monkycndo 0]

Take that beer and give it to a packer, after s/he shows you some tricks to get the beast in the bag. Then practice a whole bunch. After about 100 jumps, it will start to become manageable.

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[sid 1]

try this way http://sidsrigging.com/articles/greed.htm

Pete Draper,

Just because my life plan is written on the back of a Hooter's Napkin, it's still a life plan.... right?

[2shay 0]

beer is good!! can you spell psycho pack

don't try your bullshit with me!!!

[LloydDobbler 2]

Yep, what monkeycndo said is great advice. You'll learn a lot of inside tricks you wouldn't have thought of, just from someone who's been doing it for a while (and has packed a lot of new canopies).

I'd also recommend psycho-packing. My canopy had 35 jumps when I got it...and I had a broken wrist. So learning to pack it took a bit. I ultimately wound up psycho-packing it, and still psycho-pack it to this day. Just works better for me (and I still have some weak spots in my wrists, which get in the way, so the less stress I have to put on 'em, the better).

At this point, however, after about 40 times packing it (and a nice coating of good ole' California desert dirt) , I'm pretty sure I could get it into the bag as a pro-pack.

(The dirt's the key.)

Good luck!

Signatures are the new black.

[DrewEckhardt 0]

Quote

Until now i have been renting rigs and as such have not had a hard time packing. I have just recently bought a beautiful sabre 2 135 javelin oddysey combination.
problem is that i just cant get the f***ing thing into the bag. packing is an absolute nightmare and leaves me frustrated and wanting a beer.
is there any advice for a guy like me who is seeing stars everytime he has to pack???

Do something which doesn't require making several S-folds outside the bag - psycho-pack, Wolmari pack, last S-fold first with the "first" S-fold once it's in the bag, etc.

Take your pick.

Or get a packer to teach you how to contain everything without using the bag. It'll take more practice to get right but be more "pure"

[pornstar 0]

www.parasale.com/wolmari

[UDSkyJunkie 0]

Quote

problem is that i just cant get the f***ing thing into the bag. packing is an absolute nightmare and leaves me frustrated and wanting a beer.
is there any advice for a guy like me who is seeing stars everytime he has to pack???

Everyone goes through this... psycho packing, ect can help, but the only real answer is "ask for tips, and practice, practice, practice."

If my little sister could figure it out when whe was 14 and about 90 lbs, you can too.

"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

[phoenixlpr 0]

Quote

If my little sister could figure it out when whe was 14 and about 90 lbs, you can tooWink.

True point, size does not matter.

[JumpinJules 0]

the step by step pictures from that website were helpful... I always have the most trouble getting mine into the bag too... it's hard for me to keep everything under control, but like everyone at my dz and on here has said, I'm sure it'll only take a hundred or so pack jobs before I won't be swearing at my D bag as I pack

Into the great wide open/ under them skies of blue/ out in the great wide open/ a rebel w/out a clue.....

[phoenixlpr 0]

Quote

I'm sure it'll only take a hundred or so pack jobs before I won't be swearing at my D bag as I pack Wink

I really don't think so. I know a newbie who has mastered packing his brand new Sabre2 in 10 jumps.

I know another she was "playing" with it for 30-40 jumps and still packing for 20+ minutes.

[Julien007 0]

Same issue here! Infiniti container and Sabre 2 135 as well. Ive gotten it in the bag once but it looked like dog vomit and I was scared to jump it. I have been paying a packer instead. Embarrasing. Ive been practicing at home on carpet and have launched into several campaigns of violent cursing so far.
How are you doing with the packing now, and did you pick up any tricks for packing Zippo?

Heres a youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZi2TAe7Of8link to help the similarly despondent :

www.skydivesandiego.com

[Julien007 0]

Dear lord and baby Jesus! Just made four fresh packing attempts. 3 with the Wolmari method and one regular pro pack.
NONE MADE IT IN THE FAWKING BAG!!!
I want to break something! Or maybe cry like a little girl (Even though I am a 32 year old dude.) Arghhhh!! I am ready to bury this thing in the dirt for a week to kill some of the slipperyness! You no sooner compress it than it reinflates like a nerf ball. Its like packing a pillow into a change purse and almost as futile as training chimpanzees to be butlers.
%$#$!!*&!%
OK I feel a tiny bit better after venting. I'll practice more tomorrow.
Going to the DZ on Sunday. I hope to god I don't have to suffer the embarrasment of bringing this shit to the DZ unpacked.
Goodnight. I am gonna go cry myself to sleep.

www.skydivesandiego.com

[Waldschrat 0]

It takes me 50 packs to bring my Springo under control, only practice, time and looking on the hands of experienced packers, will bring you the goal.

[Ronaldo 0]

Try this:
http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3088751;search_string=packing%20video;#3088751

Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

[ladydyver 0]

Quote

Dear lord and baby Jesus! Just made four fresh packing attempts. 3 with the Wolmari method and one regular pro pack.
NONE MADE IT IN THE FAWKING BAG!!!
I want to break something! Or maybe cry like a little girl (Even though I am a 32 year old dude.) Arghhhh!! I am ready to bury this thing in the dirt for a week to kill some of the slipperyness! You no sooner compress it than it reinflates like a nerf ball. Its like packing a pillow into a change purse and almost as futile as training chimpanzees to be butlers.
%$#$!!*&!%
OK I feel a tiny bit better after venting. I'll practice more tomorrow.
Going to the DZ on Sunday. I hope to god I don't have to suffer the embarrasment of bringing this shit to the DZ unpacked.
Goodnight. I am gonna go cry myself to sleep.

thanks for the post...you made my day. I just got a new pilot 168 and have been practicing packing it - to say the least it has been a rather amusing tale....nice to know I am not the only one struggling. Those new parachutes can be slippery to say the least.

DPH # 2
"I am not sure what you are suppose to do with that, but I don't think it is suppose to flop around like that." ~Skootz~
I have a strong regard for the rules.......doc!

[Julien007 0]

No problem, and thanks everyone for the advice. Wish I could say I was doing better, but I am not. I am typing this from Tranquil Groves Mental Hospital. It seems I have been comitted. The orderlies claimed that some friends found me catatonic with a shredded parachute, drool running down my chin, rocking back and forth, mumbling over and over: "IT WOULDN"T GO IN THE BAG"

www.skydivesandiego.com

[Gali109 0]

Quote

try this way http://sidsrigging.com/articles/greed.htm

This method is great. It makes packing a lot easier for me and you can fill the bag nicely and evenly. I also like it because the last thing you put is the bottom of the canopy so you can check the slider is all the way up.

Laurent - www.RhythmSkydiving.com

[kschilk 0]

Pick-up a copy of Packing Made Simple. It gives great instruction on several different packjobs, one of 'em oughta' work for ya'.

"T'was ever thus."

[RMURRAY 1]

Quote

Until now i have been renting rigs and as such have not had a hard time packing. I have just recently bought a beautiful sabre 2 135 javelin oddysey combination.
problem is that i just cant get the f***ing thing into the bag. packing is an absolute nightmare and leaves me frustrated and wanting a beer.
is there any advice for a guy like me who is seeing stars everytime he has to pack???

I got a new sabre 170 at 20 jumps and had the same problem. make sure the container and main D bag is made for the 135 or bigger. Seems obvious but make sure you are packing on a good surface with some friction - like carpet. Then get someone with lots of experience with different rigs (like a packer) to show you their technique - from that you will probably customize a bit to make up your own technique. I still use the method from that 170 even though it is not the best for my sail jvx....

rm

[brettski74 0]

I bought a shiny new Sabre 2 from the factory a few months ago and it took a few practice packs on the living room floor to get it happy, and it also took a couple of attempts for my first pack-job on a recent trip to AZ after a couple of months off, but to this day, the only pack jobs I've paid for were on camps where we didn't have time between debriefs to pack ourselves. I've done about 50 happy pack jobs on it now, and it doesn't really trouble me, now.

For what worked for me is first, use the two stage, reverse s-fold method on sidsrigging mentioned above. You'll have much less slidey, slippery shit to deal with outside of the bag and everything that follows assumes that's what you're doing. If your trying something else like a psycho pack, I have no idea whether my suggestions will be useful to you or not.

I started trying to describe the tricks I based on previous packing tips from other skydivers, packers and riggers and from my experimentation on the living room floor, but I think you really need photos or video.

What happened when I first tried and what some other people I've seen have trouble with is that they have an s-fold and they try to hold it in place by simply applying force from top and bottom but the folds just get squeezed out and become a mess. To resolve, I changed my grips on the fabric to insert fingers into the actual folds so there was a physical barrier to stop them sliding out.

The first of these grips is, when gripping the big s-fold around the side with your hand, thumb goes on top, but hold the s-fold by sticking your fingers *inside* the bottom fold rather than around the whole ball of snot. If the fabric is extremely slippery, you can sometimes stick your index finger into the top fold, but this generally is only practical on the one side and with practice you really shouldn't need to. You'll kinda get a feel for where your thumb should clamp down so that the top fold doesn't move, anyway.

The second one is around the fold itself. Imagine your hand in front of you, palm facing up and fingers points away from you. Stick your fingers into the bottom fold of the s-fold with your palm wrapped around the curve of the fold and the thumb clamping down on top. I use this grip momentarily after getting one end in the bag. By this stage, the top fold is starting to be held a little by the bag as I'm placing it around the chute, so I just need my fingers in there to stop the bottom fold sliding out.

If I had someone else here to take photos, I'd take some photos to show you, but hopefully that made enough sense to you. The bottom line is rather than trying to hold the big s-fold in place by just clamping down, actually insert fingers into the folds to physically block them from sliding out.

Good luck! [Wink]

[JohnDeere 0]

I have best fix for you. Pay a packer. Has always worked for me. All i have to do is pay for pack jobs and give a goooood tip. ooh yea and bring her a beer when she is done for the day

Nothing opens like a Deere!

You ignorant fool! Checks are for workers!

[mikewza 0]

lol, i take it you are a packer... you have to do more than pack to get beer tokens from me...

i have been psycho packing the rig since getting it. i have now done about 130 jumps on the psycho pack which is working out great. sometimes i get off heading openings but normally i have smooth, straight openings just like i want. it is also really quick taking me less than 10 minutes from dropping the rig to putting it back on the rack. highly recommended.

fly high... fly long.